US Commits Another $155m Humanitarian Aid

US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the United States is providing nearly $155 million in additional humanitarian assistance to displaced and conflict-affected Iraqis within Iraq and throughout the region who are in urgent need of support. This new funding brings total U.S. humanitarian assistance for the Iraq humanitarian response to more than $778 million since the start of Fiscal Year 2014.

Since January 2014, more than 3.4 million Iraqis have been displaced. Out of a total population of 33 million, the UN estimates that 10 million people across the country are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, including an estimated three million living in ISIL-held territory. More than one million school-aged Iraqi children, or 20 percent nationwide, are out of school.

U. S. humanitarian assistance, provided from the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and other implementing partners, will help to provide for the urgent needs of millions of vulnerable individuals.

Through UNHCR, and a number of international organizations and non-governmental organizations, this contribution will help offer shelter, protection, core relief items, camp coordination and management assistance; it will also provide much-needed water and sanitation, health care, and other vital food and non-food items. In addition to assisting conflict-affected Iraqis within Iraq, UNHCR also assists Iraqi refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria.